The 2015 Rural Education National Forum was held this week, drawing attention to the challenges faced not only by rural schools but also by their communities.

BattelleforKids.org, which partnered with the Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia departments of education in sponsoring the conference, wrote this on the organization’s website:

If we are to transform educational and economic opportunities across rural America, then rural schools must become much more than a place—they must become the driving force where things take place.

Battelle recognizes that rural areas are different from urban and suburban areas in more than just population density, but rural America has the same need for meaningful and adequately reimbursed work as more densely populated areas.

Battelle says rural areas need to create a “collaborative leadership ecosystem from the bottom up around an integrated education, economic, and community development strategy.”

If you’re one of the subscribers to this blog, you know the intertwined problems of rural schools, rural economies, and rural communities are one of my soapbox issues.

Making Rural Education Work for Our Children and Our Future, a free 12-page white paper from Battelle sketches the problems of integrating the three aspects of rural life. It also outlines a framework for developing solutions that solve local problems in ways that are both sustainable and scalable. I recommend you download and read the 12-page PDF.